Chief Facing State Action In Ouc Theft

April 20, 1989

A state police standards commission Wednesday decided to file a complaint against Eatonville Police Chief Ted Hood on charges related to his involvement in electricity theft in Orlando.

Hood, 47, pleaded no contest last April to charges of stealing electricity from the Orlando Utilities Commission for almost two years while he was an Orange County sheriff's captain. An investigation concluded that meter tampering had cut Hood's power bills by almost $12,300 over several years.

Hood, who was hired by Eatonville in September, would not comment Wednesday, other than to say he completed a year of unsupervised probation, 50 hours of community service and repaid OUC $6,100.

The commission met in Pensacola to hear several cases and has 45 days to file the complaint against Hood, said Joe Kendrick, a standards and training manager in Tallahassee. Hood will then have the choice of requesting an informal hearing before the commission or a more formal procedure before a hearing officer.

If the commission determines that Hood violated police standards, punishment could range from a reprimand to suspension to revocation of his police certification. If Hood's certification is revoked, he could not work as a law enforcement officer in Florida.